US VP Pence to announce 'concrete steps' for Venezuela crisis: Official

US Vice President Mike Pence gives a statement in front of the Bayerischer Hof hotel at the 55th Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, on February 16, 2019. (AFP photo)

US Vice President Mike Pence is set to announce “concrete steps” and “clear actions” to address the Venezuela crisis, as foreign intervention has pushed the Latin American nation into political chaos and economic collapse.

A senior US administration official said Sunday Pence will make the announcement when he meets on Monday with several leaders in the Americas in Bogota, Colombia.

The official, speaking with reporters on condition of anonymity, declined to say what the new measures would involve ahead of Pence’s speech, to be delivered to a summit of the Lima Group.

“The vice president will announce concrete steps,” the official said. “You should expect him to announce clear actions tomorrow as he speaks to the Lima Group.”

The US vice president also plans to meet with Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido.

The meeting comes after convoys of US aid were blocked at the Venezuelan border by forces loyal to embattled President Nicolas Maduro.

Guaido, 35, who is also the head of Venezuela’s defunct National Assembly, plunged the country into political chaos on January 23, when he proclaimed himself as the “interim president” of Venezuela.

After the bizarre move, US President Donald Trump and other Western leaders recognized Guaido as the country’s interim president.

The US-backed opposition figure has also planned to bring in foreign humanitarian aid, including those from the US through the Colombian border, to allegedly alleviate the country's economic crisis.

Maduro has said the real incentive behind Guaido’s “relief” effort is to undermine his government in a Washington-orchestrated bid to oust him, stressing that Caracas would not allow the entry of the so-called aid to Venezuela, which has the world’s largest proven oil reserves.

Washington's moves against Venezuela have reached an unprecedented and dangerous level. There have been reports that the US has armed the opposition, which would make the situation even more volatile.

However, the US has not stopped there. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has vowed the US will uproot authoritarianism in Nicaragua and Cuba.

The US has had a long history of interference in Latin American nations. There was the Mexican-American war in the mid-19th century when Mexico lost half of its territory to the US.

The US also tried, but failed to stage a coup in Venezuela in 2002. Altogether, directly or indirectly, the US has been involved in regime change in Latin America more than 40 times in the past century.